Type 22 (Broadsword) class Frigate (1976)

Batch 1: Broadsword, Battleaxe, Brilliant, Brazen

The type 22 were a new generation of frigates planned by British Royal Navy to replaced 1950-60 vessels FY1977. Fourteen were built total, but the design changed over time, so much so three batches existed with the last ship, HMS Chatham, completed in 1990 as the cold war ended. They were still at the core anti-submarine warfare frigates as per NATO contribution, but the design ended more as general purpose ships. They were probably the most important class after the Leanders of the 1960s for the RN. HMS Cornwall was the last to leave service on 30 June 2011. Those not scrapped were sunk as targets but seven were sold to the Brazilian, Romanian and Chilean navies, with four still in service today. They were replaced by the Type 23 or Duke class, planned in turn to be replaced by the Type 26 and 31 currently in construction. Note: Post divided into three, with the Boxer and Corwnall sub-classes coming next in May and June.

HMS Broadsword, Portsmouth Harbour, 1982 (IWM)

Development

After the cancellation of CVA-01 in 1966, the Royal Navy started to review its surface fleet forces, concluded that it needed the following:
-A helicopter cruiser-type for extended ASW operations (that became the Invincible-class)
-An air defence destroyer, smaller and cheaper than the County class as replacement (Type 42 Sheffield programme)
-A missile-armed frigate to replace the Type 12 Leander class (Current Type 22)
-A cheap patrol frigate (Type 21 Amazon)
-A dual-role mine countermeasures vessel to replace the Ton class (Hunt class).

The air defence destroyer was given the highest priority as the gradualy retirement of the carrier fleet was creating an air defence capability gap and the Leander class were deficient in modern SAM capabilities. In particular, the new Sea Dart wa splanned to be introduced in numbers to replace this missing air defence capability. However the Admiralty design department by the 1960s was already overworked. So, a private design (Type 21) was purchased as an interim solution. The Type 22 remained under development in between.

This design process was however further delayed due to the priority given to the Type 21 and Type 42, as well as attempts to produce a common Anglo-Dutch design (the future standard/Kortenaer class). The first Type 22 order at last was placed in 1972 at Yarrow. It was the latter that produced the master designs, and made all the detailed design work under overall supervision by the Ship Department at Bath.

Ships & weapons Mag 1980s

Originally conceived as a follow-on to the Leander class and intended to be built for the Royal Netherlands Navy as well, the Type 22 design was forced to grow to meet new threats and to accommodate new technology. The increasing inability of medium-range active sonars to cope with fast nuclear submarines led to the development of a new ‘fleet’ sonar, capable of long-range passive derection and use of convergence zones and ‘bottom-bounce’ techniques. The threat from SS-N-7 ‘pop-up’ missiles dictated the development of Sea Wolf anti-missile system, and finally the creation of the SOSUS barriers of underwater listening arrays in the GIUK Gap required a ship with a high degree of autonomy and good seakeeping.

As a result the Broadsword hull had much more freeboard than the Sheffield class DDG, a double hangar to accommodate a second Lynx (a late addition), a double-headed Sea wolf system, and a main armament restricted to four MM38 Exocet SSM. The hull was in fact an expansion of the original Type 12 design, intended to be driven in rough weather with little reduction in speed. The processing equipment needed for all this required seven computers, but there was another reason for the spaciousness: Experience has shown that maintenance is the biggest headache in a warship, and that the ‘payload’ has to be updated once or even twice in the lifetime of the ‘platform’ or hull.

Thus the Broadsword design left additional space for future growth, in much the same way as the American Spruance design. Although rated as frigates they were bigger than the DDGs, and proved magnificent ASW ships. The first two ships were not originally fitted with TTs. They were to be fitted with the Type 2031Z towed array, but the weight of the winch would have strained the hull girder. The enormous number of inputs from towed arrays also showed that the original Type 22 AIO was not big enough for the task. Large as these ships were, a second ‘stretched’ batch was ordered. For the first time the lead yard received all subsequent orders, as it is now recognised that this saves a considerable amount of time and money.

HMS Broadsword was damaged during the Falklands conflict, but both she and her sister Brilliant performed very well, the latter being the first to use Sea Wolf operationally when she shot down two Skyhawks on 12 May 1982, she was also the first ship to use Sea Skua in anger. In 1988-89 both Broadsword and Battleaxe were refitted by DML, with new funnels similar to their later sisters and additional accommodation for training. In 1991 it was suggested that these fine ships might be offered for sale, and in November 1994 all four were bought by Brazil.

Design of the class

F89 left side – the blueprints

The Type 22 originally were drafted as specialist anti-submarine warfare vessel, registering into NATO guidelines. British Destroyers were tasked of A/S escort, and heavy duty escort was mostly an USN job. But in Royal Navy service along the years and dreadful white papers advocated for more cuts, the ships evolved into general purpose frigates with long range kept for A/S work, helicopters and torpedoes against submarines and a close defensive air bubble. Since the design evolved much they ended made into three batches, three sub-classes, of fully fledged class for many authors (as well as convoys and in many publications) but they had a common strong DNA, starting with their base hull, powerplant and general outlook.

The first Broadsword class comprised four ships, the second six ships, the third four ships again with the latter classes being “stretched out”. Ordering proceeded slowly due to their high unit cost. Tocompare the late Type 12Ms (Rothesay) were about £10m but it was double for the new Type 21s and triple for the Type 22s when ordered, ballooned by inflation up to £68m, far higher even than a Type 42 destroyer (HMS Glasgow 1979: £40m).

In Royal Navy service they were also upgraded and get enhanced command, control and co-ordination facilities, so much so they ended as flagships on many deployments. But with the cold was ended, their career was shortened to match the new “dividends of peace” and inevitable downgrade of the Navy as a whole after mandatory minimal service. They made happy customers, Brazil in the mid-1990s, Romania in the early 2000s (modernised Batch 2), and Chile, still operating them. The fact Brazil and Chile both have them is a nice tradition of balancing acquisitions since last century’s naval rivalries.

Hull and general design

F88 right side and top view, the blueprints

The first four Type 22s had their dimensions determined by the undercover Frigate Refit Complex just setup at Devonport Dockyard. Batch 1 ships had a displacement of 4,500 tonnes, standard, and measured 131.2 m (430 ft) overall for a beam of 14.8 m (49 ft) and draft of 6.1 m (20 ft). Both next batches will be stretched out while keeping the same beam, and having a deeper draught as well (see below). As for the overall design, it ws three-tiered, wth a long superstructure. The forward prow had an angled stem and bulwarked foredeck, where the four exocet launchers were placed behind a wave breaker. It was short before the stop forming the main amidship deck, and the SAM system was located just forward of the bridge. The latter had a three-faceted and enclosed, and the relatively long structure had wongs, and then upper flying decks on which were installed 20mm Guns and the decoy launchers. One the roof was the main fiore control radar.

❮ Greenwhich Plans of the Type 22 (low res) see the sources for more.

Next was the foremast, topped by the main aerial radar and navigation radar on a lower platoform. Then the superstructure had a cut above the machinery deck, with a communication center, followed by the main funnel topped with heat reduction exhaust caps system (recirculating cold air) and the admiralty cutters abaft it under davits. Next was the mainmast aft topped with other aerials, directly on deck, and the aft section that ended the structure by the hangar, half buried into the upper deck and half opened on the lower aft deck and its helideck. The second seawolf was installed on top of the hangar, with its fire control radar located closeby. The whole desgn aft was centered around a large hangar for a Sea King helicopter and all its maintenance and spares, plus a full-width flight deck best usable in the heaviest of weathers. Below the helideck there was a hull poop cutout in the transom for the VDS (dipping sonar) also usable to land rhibs, albeit one was stored on deck at the foot of the aft mast with a crane to service it.

The ships had counter-keels aft amidship, and two active stabilization planes in fore and aft pairs. There were anti-collision (props protection) aft, and instead of a whin hull sonar radome, two were installed further aft underbelly, making vital the use of a constant depht measurement sonar. The design would remain essentally the same for the next class, stretched both around the bridge structure forward and with a longer, clipper style bulwark prow. Only Batch 3 hulls had a classic chin sonar bulb. They all had three main anchor forward, with one axial in the stem. The crew varied over time, but was 222 for the first batch as completed. They could use either of the sixteen auto-inflatable NATO standard encapsulated liferafts, four close to the funnel and four alongside the hangar aft.

Powerplant

The power ouput from the start was determined to be a combination of Olympus and Tyne gas turbines in a typical COGOG (combined gas turbine or gas turbine) arrangement. The spaces were placed in a way to minimise shaft lengths, always fragile outer parts. Despite of this, thet needed struts. Electrical power came from GEC generators, four Paxman Ventura 16YJCAZ diesels, each 1MW strong. The main power came from two Rolls-Royce Marine Olympus TM3B high-speed gas turbines rated for 54,000 shp (40 MW) but cruising power was generally obtained for the two Rolls-Royce Tyne RM1C cruise gas turbines rated for 9,700 shp (7.2 MW) total. They could be coupled together for extra boost, making for a total of 63,700 shp or 47.2 MW.

This was enough to propel them, via 4-bladed bronze variable-pitch propellers suspended on struts. There was a single axial rudder. Top speed was classic battle fleet, at 30 knots (56 km/h) full and 18 knots (33 km/h) when cruising, using the RM1C gas turbines. Of course the acceleration provided by the gas turbines was all the rage for rapid evolutions, notably to present the smallest target to an upcoming sea-skimming missile. Range is a matter of debate. For Conways, it was 4500 nautical miles () at 18 knots, the top cruise range.

Protection

Passive

The ships were completed to the latest safety and security measures of the RN at the time. Usual for 1970s ships, the Type 22 were protected against NBC threats, with all external doors and hatches having full sealing and a wheeld compression system for tightness. There were few external hoses using seawater for full ship’s washing as well and contamination detectors for a quick warning.

For more classic threats, the underwater protection comprised a full double bottom, ballasting with selective counterflooding, compartmentation of the powerplant plus the redundancy given by the well separated diesel electric generators. There was no armour protection but possibly kevlar around the control operation room buried in the hull. Fre-protection consisted of sprinkler systems in all sensitive areas, machinery space, ammunition magazines, central operation room. Individual halon fire extinguishers were well distributed throughiouts an a part of the crewmen had the double task for also acting as firemen, fully equipped to survive in fire and smoke, with axes and fire hoses connected to seawater cock pumps with many fire access points across the ship. The crewmen also were all equipped with fire-proof/NBC proof combinations in case of battle stations.

Active: Sea Gnat Chaff RL (from Batch 3)

The Seagnat Control System is a British decoy system from System Engineering & Assessment (SEA) Ltd designed to fire rockets from Chemring Countermeasures Ltd. to NATO standards against missiles. First developed in 1973 as a collaborative NATO project (US, UK, DE, NO, DK) it remained compatible to be swapped for a Mark 36 SRBOC albeit the Seagnat rounds are not directly interchangeable. It was selected for use on the British Type 22 Batch 3 and Type 23 frigates in 1985 but only in limited production from 1986, service in 1987. Each unit has six modified 130mm Mark 36 SRBOC launchers, either fixed or trainable, that could be loaded with the following:

• Mk214 Seduction Chaff: larger and more rapid cloud than SRBOC
• Mk216 Distraction Chaff
• Mk245 “GIANT” IR Round
• Mk251 “siren” Active Decoy Round (“DLH” versions)

Armament

The Broadsword design was unique for lacking any main gun armament from the early design phase. She had a primary ASW role combined with some general purpose capability so it was estimated she had to be really tailored to tend to a Westland Sea King and later Lynx helicopter completed by a short range triple torpedo tubes (STWS) well served by a Type 2016 sonar, key to its sensor suite Air defence was shoprt range but consistent, with a two six-launchers Seawolf (GWS 25) point-defence system. Surface warfare was the factor by including forward mounted Exocets, which eliminated the main gun. The first ships had two Bofors 40 mm L/60 for “junk-busting” east of Suez. However in the Falklands Type 22 captains considered they interfered with concentrating on the Seawolf.

MM38 Exocet SSM

The well-known sea-skimming missile was adopted well before thge Falkland war by the RN. It started be installed in the mid-1970s already. The Type 12I and Type 21 frigates were no exeption. MM-38 Exocet SSM were installed forward of the bridge screen aft of the forecastle. This forced the displacement of the Corvus countermeasure launchers amidships. They were placed in four canisters pointing inwards up in two pairs. This 1st gen. missile, designed aznd produced until 1999 by Aérospatiale. It had a solid propellant engine for 40 km (25 mi; 22 nmi) in range. Sea-skimming at max Mach 0.93 or 1,148 km/h (713 mph; 620 kn) it had an inertial guidance, and active radar homing for the final phase. The later mods had GPS guidance. This missile weight 780 kg (1,720 lb), for 6 m (19 ft 8 in) long and 34.8 cm (1 ft 1.7 in) in diameter, 1.35 m (4 ft 5 in) in wingspan, and carried a 165 kg (364 lb) warhead designed to explode inside the target and cause an intense fire. The British developed their own variant of the MM 38 in 1984, deployed 1985-97 at Gibraltar, the “Excalibur”.

Sea Wolf GWS25 SAM

The Sea Wolf GWS-25 was a highly advanced point-defence surface-to-air missile (SAM) system developed for the Royal Navy to protect ships from anti-ship missiles and aircraft at very short range. “GWS-25” means Guided Weapon System, 25 (RN designation for the original shipborne Sea Wolf). This was a defining feature of the Type 22 frigate and Type 23. They were much improved compared to older systems, capable of countering sea-skimming anti-ship missiles, fast attack aircraft and precision-guided weapons. Like the US CIWS and later RAM, this was a close-in defence system, past the barrier of carrier aviation and destroyers long range SAMs.
The missiled uses Command to Line-of-Sight (CLOS) with a fully automatic radar tracking of both target and missile, and very fast from detection to launch but for a range of c6 km. It was notable for its automation, having minimal human input to reduce reaction times. The Two GWS-25 launchers fore and aft on Batch 1 ships provided a 360° coverage and they were integrated with ship radar and fire-control systems, making the Type 22 frigates some of the best-defended ships for their size. However the Falklands War, revealed that if they proved their ability to intercept high-speed, low-level targets and were credited with shooting down Argentine aircraft and possibly missiles, they suffered from tracking issues in cluttered environments, system saturation and technical glitches under combat stress, which drove later improvements.

Oerlikon 30mm M75

The Oerlikon 30 mm M75 is a light naval autocannon developed by the Swiss firm Oerlikon Contraves, widely used by the Royal Navy and many other navies as a short-range defensive gun system. They fired Calibre 30×170 mm rounds on a stabilized mount, gas-operated automatic cannon for c650 rounds per minute but short effective range of 2–3 km vs. surface/air targets. They were installed on Type 22 frigate and Type 42 destroyer as a secondary weapon system, complementing the Sea Wolf GWS-25 for close-range air defence, engagement of low-flying aircraft and helicopters and surface threat engagement like against Fast attack craft and Small boats or asymmetric threats.
They were used also for Warning and policing roles on Maritime security and patrol operations, with warning shots. Using the HEI (high explosive incendiary), AP (armor-piercing), and others they could indeed be very verstile, and were easy to install and maintain. However in the 1990s their utility started to decline.

STSW-2 Torpedo Tubes

Same as the standard US 323 mm or 23 inches tubes, light enough to be hand-reloaded. Could fire the Mk.46 or Stingray anti-submarine torpedoes.
Stingray: Mass 267 kg (589 lb) for 2.6 meters (8 feet 6 inches), 330 mm (13 in) caliber.
Max range 8-11 km (8,700 to 12,000 yd), Warhead Torpex 45 kg (99 lb).
Powered by electrical pump-jet with Magnesium/silver-chloride batteries for 45 knots (83 km/h)
Guidance system: Passive, then Active sonar for final run.

Sensors

Fire Control Radar for the Seawolf SAM, HMS Battleaxe

These ships entered service with the following (updates to come in May-June):

• Type 967 air-search radar
• 2 × Type 910 fire-control radars
• Type 1006 navigation radar
• Type 2016 sonar
• Type 162M bottom target classification sonar
• Type 2008 underwater comms system

Air Group

Westland Sea King:

The Sea King was derived from the American Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King but heavily adapted for British requirements, with Rolls-Royce Gnome engine, different avionics and mission systems and specialized variants for multiple roles. It entered Royal Navy service in 1969, initially focused on anti-submarine warfare (ASW) during the Cold War. This multi-role workhorse was mostly used for Anti-Submarine Warfare with early HAS variants being equipped with dipping sonar, radar, and torpedoes. It was also developed as Airborne Early Warning (AEW) after lessons from the Falklands War with the distinctive radar “bag” (Searchwater radar) for fleet-wide surveillance and threat detection. It was also used for Search and Rescue (SAR) with a great capacity and thanks to this, could also land Royal Marines. However the British Sea King operated by the Brodaswords was likely the HAS.2 or HAS.5. Its high maintenance and operating cost made it replaced by the Lynx after 1982.

Westland Lynx:

The Westland Lynx was mostly available post-Falklands, faster, and carried its own sensors and better weapons. It was compact enough for the limited single hangar and flight deck of the Type 22, whereas the Sea King had troubles, even with the bear-trap system to land in heavy weather. It was also faster, and remained highly versatile with both ASW and anti-ship capabilities. Each Type 22 typically carried one Lynx, operated by a Royal Navy flight from the Fleet Air Arm, early on the Lynx HAS.2, and later the Lynx HAS.3 with improved sensors and avionics on the batch 2 and finally the Lynx HMA.8 upgrade with advanced radar and systems on the Batch 3 frigates. In last-minute short ranged anti-ship role it could by armed with Sea Skua missiles. It had a whole battery of Radar and visual reconnaissance systems and can provided Over-the-horizon targeting for the frigate’s Exocets and later Harpoons. It could be also used for search and rescue, personnel transfer, and light logistics.

Batch 1

Career of the Type 22

Batch 1

Broadsword and Hermes in 1982.

Broadsword was ordered from Yarrow, Glasgow on 8 February 1974, laid down on 7 February 1975, launched on 12 May 1976 and completed on 21 February 1979, commissioned on 4 May 1979 for an overall cost of £68.6M. She started a first operation as a command ship in the large rescue operation after storms in the 1979 Fastnet race. But of course she was part of the 1982 Falklands War, and on 25 May was paired with HMS Coventry to draw Argentine aircraft away from the San Carlos landings. Coventry had long range Sea Dart but Broadsword had the short range Sea Wolf for both aircraft and missiles. Two pairs of Argentine aircraft arrived at low level, too late for Coventry to achieve a missile lock while Broadsword’s Sea Wolf system shut down. She was thus hit by one bomb, bounced up through the helicopter deck and exiting. The other pair made a turn and escape the Seawolf’s line of fire. Bombs from A-4 Skyhawks damaged and sunk Coventry and Broadsword rescued 170 of her crew.

Broadsword, port view

Later Broadsword shot down one IAI Dagger of FAA Grupo 6 and shared an A-4C Skyhawk kill with HMS Antelope had her SeaCat, Rapiers and Blowpipe missiles. Postwar she was under command of Captain G W R Biggs (10 April 1985-15 May 1986) then M W G Kerr (27 July 1988-18 May 1990). In 1993 she took part in the naval action, Operation Grapple in ex-Yugoslavia and the Adriatic Sea. She had a major refit and when the latter was completed on 8 July 1993, she suffered a major fire in the aft auxiliary machinery room which (2 engineers killed). By July 1994, she was in the West Indies Guard Ship until March 1995, decommissioned, disposal list, and then sold in November 1994, to Brazil alongside HMS Brazen, Brilliant, Battleaxe for £116,000,000. RN decommissioned was 31 March 1995, Brazilian commission 30 June 1995 as “Greenhalgh”. She was the first to enter a U.S. strike group in July 2008 in COMPUTEX, USS Iwo Jima. On 10 August 2021, she was decommissioned and on 13 September 2024, sunk as target at SINKEX off Rio de Janeiro.

HMS Battleaxe was ordered from Yarrow, Glasgow on 5 September 1975, laid down on 4 February 1976, launched on 18 May 1977 and in service by 20 December 1979, commissioned on 28 March 1980 for a cost of £69.2M. She was sent to Gibraltar on 24 March 1982 for Exercise “Springtrain 82” but as the Falklands War broke out in April she was not deployed and rather kept on station due to issues with her propeller shafts. Battleaxe hiwever eventually was sent to the South Atlantic postwar, escorting HMS Illustrious from Devonport on 2 August and arriving on the 24th, back on 19 November. She made another tour from July 1983 to December 1983. On 2 July 1988, she rescued stricken sailors from the sunken yacht Dalriada after colliding with HMS Conqueror. Battleaxe later took part in the Armilla patrol in the Persian Gulf from August 1990 after the Iraqi invasion and start of the Gulf War. She was back home by November 1990. In April-October 1995 she took part in the Bosnia blockade, UN operation. She was also modernized, only to be Decommissioned on 30 August 1996 and sold to Brazil.

In Brazilian service she was commissioned on 30 April 1997 as Rademaker. She was involved in an incident on 29 November 2004, during FRATERNO exercise with the Argentinian Navy while in gunnery practice against target drones. The Argentinian frigate ARA Sarandí’s automatic fire system malfunctioned and she fired on Rademaker, with 4 Brazilian crewmen injured and the Argentine naval observer, but moderate damage. By 2004, Rademaker was in Port-au-Prince for the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti. By April 2017 she searched for the missing bulk carrier Stellar Daisy and later the Argentine submarine San Juan in November 2017. She is still active as of 2026.

HMS Brilliant was ordered from Yarrow of Glasgow on 7 September 1976, laid down on 25 March 1977 and launched on 15 December 1978. She was in service on 10 April 1981 but commissioned on 15 May for a cost of £102.2M. She took part in the task force sent to the Falklands under Captain John Coward, with two WE.177A nuclear depth charges on board initially but due to the Treaty of Tlatelolco, she had to transferr them to the RFA Fort Austin on 16 April. She took part in Operation Paraquet on 25 April off South Georgia. At 08:55, Santa Fe was located by HMS Antrim’s Wessex helicopter, engaged with depth charges and Santa Fe was forced to be berthed in Grytviken. Brilliant launched her Lynx, dropped a Mk 46 torpedo which passed underneath so the helicopter strafed the submarine with little effect (7.62mm). Later Wasps from HMS Plymouth and Endurance fired AS-12 missiles that crippled Santa Fe, almost beached in Grytviken and abandoned.

On 12 May, Brilliant escorted Glasgow in “Type 64” pairing. At 14:00, four A-4B Skyhawks from FAA Grupo 5 attacked, Glasgow’s Sea Dart failing, and Brilliant fired three Sea Wolf shooting both C-206 and C-208 (Lt Mario Nivol, Lt Jorge Ibarlucea) with a third also badly damaging C-246 (Lt Oscar Bustos) which crash-landed. C-228 (Lt Alfredo Vázquez) evaded but later crash-landed on return. Minutes later, a second wave attacked and Brilliant’s Sea Wolf this time failed to engage. A bomb from C-248 (Lt Fausto Gavazzi) passed through Glasgows aft engine, a dud, but disabling both cruising engines. Damage control plugged the entry hole, and patched the exit hole and she had to limp back at 10 knots to Portsmouth for repair. On 21 May 1982 she was damaged by cannon fire. She covered the landings at San Carlos when strafed by a Mirage V “Dagger” (Grupo 6 de Caza) one one not shot down by Sea Harriers‘s AIM-9L Sidewinders. The 30 mm DEFA cannons scored several hits, and one penetrated the Operations room, splinters damaged a Sea Wolf launcher. preserved, they are now exhibited at the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. On the 23th, joined HMS Yarmouth in the chase of the Argentinian supply ship ARA Monsunen. On the 25th she rescued 24 survivors from SS Atlantic Conveyor.

postwar career was more quiet. In 1987 she led the 2nd Frigate Squadron. On 14 May 1989, Her Lynx XZ244 crashed near Mombasa, en route to the airport for shore leave (A door detached when opened inflight, collided with the tail rotor). All nine personnel on board died. In October 1990 she hosted the first Women’s Royal Naval Service in operational conditions. In January 1991 she was in the Persian Gulf for Operation Granby; Gulf War. She ended in the BBC documentary “HMS Brilliant” with journalist Chris Terrill in 1994 while off former Yugoslavia, Adriatic sea Blockade for the UN. Decommissioned in 1996, she was sold to the Brazilian Navy on 31 August 1996, renamed Dodsworth. She was was BU at Aliağa, Turkey, July 2012.

HMS Brazen was ordered from Yarrow, Glasgow on 21 October 1977, laid down on 18 August 1978 and launched on 4 March 1980. She was in service by 11 June 1982 and commissioned on 2 July 1982 for a cost of £112M. She missed the Falklands war, but took part in the Armilla Patrol in the Gulf War, Operation Granby, earning the battle honour “Kuwait 1991”. On 24 January 1991, she screened the British Casualty Receiving ship RFA Argus when two Iraqi Mirage F1 made an attack run with AM39 Exocet but were shot down underway by patorlling Saudi F-15C before firing. Her Lynx helicopter attacked also Iraqi fast patrol boats. After a patrol in the South Atlantic, HMS Brazen ran aground in the Patagonian Canal on 11 September 1994. She was refloated 4 days later, taken to Talcahuano, with repairs for a month. She was back home under her own power and witrh repairs, she had a replaced and modernized combat system equipment at Devonport. By late 1995, she was recommissioned, sent in the Adriatic Sea for the blockade task group led by HMS Ark Royal in Operation Sharp Guard. In early 1996, Brazen rescued 30 Albanians from a sinking ship. In May 1996, she was back to Devonport for a last refit, decommissioned and sold to the Brazilian Navy in August 1996, aftere beign formally pruchased as back as 18 November 1994, renamed Bosísio. She was commissioned on 30 August 1996 and took part in the recovery mission for Air France Flight 447. She was decommissioned on 23 September 2015, sunk as a target in July 2017, ‘MISSILEX 2017’.